Ticks
are out in full force this year, especially on Cape Cod and Martha's
Vineyard, so education and prevention of tick-borne diseases is
essential. We also need to have local health departments check ticks
regularly for changing patterns of co-infections, as diseases like
Tularemia are now being found in high numbers of ticks on the Cape.
Unless a health care provider was made aware of the risk for a disease
like Tularemia from a local tick bite, it would not normally be an
infection most doctors would consider in their differential diagnosis
if a patient came in with fatigue, fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a
headache. "There have been perhaps 130 cases of tularemia on the
Vineyard over the last 15 years, accounting for about 10 per cent of
nationally reported cases. Symptoms typically include an ulcer at the
site of the infection, swollen lymph glands, fever, chills, headache and
exhaustion". Other manifestations of Tularemia include oculoglandular
manifestations (conjunctivitis and swollen lymph nodes) as well as a
typhoidal form that can cause diarrhea. Several tick-borne infections
like Borrelia hermsii (relapsing fever), Ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain
Spotted Fever can also cause diarrhea, (with other G.I.
manifestations), acting as "great imitators", so health care providers
need to be on the alert for atypical manifestations of tick-borne
illnesses. Many patients that I see with Lyme-MSIDS who have been sick
for years suffer from Lyme and multiple tick-borne infections
simultaneously, accounting in part for the failure of short term
therapies. I discuss Tularemia and its various manifestations on pages
128 to 130 of "Why Can't I Get Better?". http://vineyardgazette.com/…/education-key-stop-tick-borne-…